Feb. 23: Concert Pianist Gregory Partain

Performance is final event of 18th annual Bunny Just Piano Festival.

MANKATO, Minn. -- Gregory Partain will perform a classical recital on Sunday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the Halling Recital Hall of the Earley Center for Performing Arts, 320 Maywood Ave. The concert performance is the final event of the 18th Annual Bunny Just Piano Festival, sponsored by the Bunny Just Piano Festival Endowment.

In his twenty-six years on the concert stage, pianist Gregory Partain has appeared as recitalist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist throughout the United States, and he has performed in Germany, Poland, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Russia, and Greece.

Partain was the national winner of the KMS Resident Artist Competition in Seattle, and won first prizes in the Memphis Beethoven Piano Sonata Competition and the Kingsville International Piano Competition. He is also a composer, mostly of choral works, and was awarded the 2007 Kentucky Arts Council Al Smith award for his collected works.

Partain has garnered consistent critical acclaim in the U.S. and abroad for his CD recordings of a wide-ranging repertoire: "...some of the best Scarlatti I've ever heard...these approach the same level as Horowitz's legendary recordings” (American Record Guide); "Gregory Partain is a gifted pianist, and every item is intelligently and sympathetically played” (BBC Music Magazine).

Partain received his bachelor's degree in piano performance from the University of Washington, and master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Texas at Austin as a Javits Fellowship recipient.

Concert admission is $12; $11 for students with a valid MavCARD. Discount tickets are available online for University students. Advance purchase is strongly encouraged. Those who wish to purchase tickets online should go to www.mnsu.edu/music. For more information, call the Performance Series office, (507) 389-5549.